Mercere house seems to be quite military-oriented. We were offered weapons training by Cian the Bold, a local Redcap. While we were there, they continually trained in the courtyard, it was quite impressive. I understand there are 2 such houses in Ireland, and they are exempt from some local legal requirements on covenants establishment.

Cian assigned Morran and 3 other grogs to us to escort us to our new home. I could have gotten a horse to ride there, but declined. It does not pay to lord it over your own sodales from the start. Not before I earned it, at least. We did get 2 pack horses though.

The trip took almost 2 days. I would like to say it was uneventful, but that would be a lie.

First we were thoroughly drenched by freezing rain. It was enough to make me reconsider the wisdom of my decision to move here. Luckily, Merinita covered us all in Cloak of Duck’s Feathers (even though it took her several tries to do the same for horses). To show her my trust, I suppressed my Parma to let her do so. Gaining trust is essential, as my master always said.

With help of some wine, I established some rapport with Mercere grogs and learned some new swear words. This will come in handy in the future.

Near the end of the day (and what is going on here, I wonder! Day is just a few hours long, even with the clouds and rain I would expect some more daylight?), we were accosted by some English bandits. My knowledge of English, Imaginem and Mentem served me in good stead to avoid the bloodshed, but I have misjudged my companions. It appears both my sodales and grogs were keen on shedding blood (not theirs of course), and I messed up their plans. I need to find them an appropriate outlet for this bloodlust.

We slept in tents by a small fishing village. I need to look into organizing some decent lodgings to be maintained from covenant funds around the lake, it is not appropriate for magi to be sleeping on the ground.

Next day we were once again beset by brigands. Having learned my lesson yesterday, I let grogs off the chain, and expected to see bloodbath. However, this time it ended with hugs and kisses, which surprised me to no end.
Even greater was my surprise when I discovered that these brigands (though a better class than ones yesterday – these had a toll booth instead of a rotten log), are actually our covenant grogs, out to do some freelance fundraising. Apparently, covenant has fallen on hard times and they use this to gather additional funds. What have I gotten myself into?

Cass, the Captain of the grogs, led us to the shore of the lake Lough Neagh. Our surprise was great when he showed us reed & prayer trick that takes one straight to the shores of the island. Animals, however, are not affected, and I wonder what would have happened if Concaid was in his heartbeast form, too?

We arrived on the shore of the Coney Island with no more than our shoes wet, but were warned that saying the prayer wrong, or moving the reed in wrong pattern can have bad consequences. Especially if one can’t swim or breathe water.

We were met by a thoroughly unpleasant servant by the name of Dubhgal the Black, who pretended not to have time for us. A sharp word later, and we were met by Fionn ua Bonaosagus, our covenant’s one remaining funder.

Nota bene: Take Dubhgal down a peg or two. He servers no purpose other than to be a buffer between Fionn and the rest of the covenant, and it appears Cass is the one the covenfolk actually listen to.
Fionn welcomed us and gave us a brief explanation of the history of the covenant.
Dubhgal then gave us a cursory tour of the building and we were allowed to rest briefly before dinner.

I have started keeping separate account of covenant and it’s history, and will write this in a separate Account.